EMD Crop BioScience has rolled out what it bills as a “unique” seed-applied inoculant to boost emergence, nodulation and yield in soybeans.
The Canadian arm of Milwaukee-based EMD, itself an arm of drug and chemical firm Merck, said Wednesday its new product Optimize comes with patented technology that will allow soybean growers to “plant early without risking crop health.”
The product has already been used as a soybean seed treatment in the U.S. since 2004 and is the first with EMD’s “LCO Promoter Technology” to clear Canadian regulators, the company said.
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A related product, Optimize Pulse IF for peas and lentils, is currently in the “final stages” of review for Canadian registration, EMD said.
Optimize “enhances natural growth processes… enabling the soybean crop to achieve its full genetic potential,” the company said.
EMD described its LCO Promoter Technology as “a naturally occurring molecule that enhances root and shoot development, nodulation and nitrogen fixation immediately and independently of the environment and soil conditions.”
Optimize could “revolutionize” soybean cropping by cutting back the waiting period for nodule formation some growers see due to lower springtime soil temperatures, Michael Kereluik, the company’s Canadian sales manager in Saskatoon, said in a release.
“The Optimize formulation is clear and clean, we use less volume per ton and it works great in our bulk equipment with no modifications,” Greg Haney of Quebec-based ag input and seed treatment firm Agrocentre Belcan said in the same release.
